Patrick Fasano earns summer research internship in Armenia

Physics major Patrick Fasano, a rising sophomore at the University of Notre Dame, is spending his summer as an intern at the Cosmic Ray Division (CRD) of the Yeraven Physics Institute in Yerevan, Armenia. For 10 weeks, Fasano will assist with upgrades and improvements to the division’s data storage and processing software, as well as learning about data analysis of Thunderstorm Ground Enhancements, a newly discovered high energy phenomena in the terrestrial atmosphere. He is also working with CRD graduate students to make improvements to the ADAS (advanced data analysis system) file servers to support archived file formats for reducing storage space.

“I’ve been really enjoying it here,” said Fasano. “I’ve learned a lot about the detectors and facilities here at Yerevan and at Mt. Aragats, and have gotten the chance to do some data analysis and programming for the database systems.”

Fasano is also involved in research on campus during the academic year. Last semester he began working on programming and database management with Ani Aprahamian, Frank M. Freimann Professor of Physics. Aprahamian’s research focuses on the study of nuclear structure effects, including shapes, masses, decay lifetimes, and probabilities, and how they can influence stellar processes.

In the photo: Patrick Fasano visits Nor Amberd Station and stands by the Nor Amberd Multichannel Muon Monitor (NAMMM).